Our church is an elder-led congregational church. This means that we have a church led by godly men who have been appointed by the congregation to provide spiritual care and oversight for the church. The biblical term "elder" is used interchangeably with other words like pastor, overseer, and shepherd throughout Scripture. Though we call one of our elders a "pastor" because he is supported financially to fulfill his full-time role, ultimately all elders are pastors and all pastors are elders (Acts 20:12-3; 1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Peter 5:1-4).

We also believe that the Holy Spirit has given every believer spiritual gifts that are to be used for the common good. Therefore, we have many other people, both men and women, who are not elders but are still exercising their gifts of leadership in helpful ways to build up the church.

Dan Leman, Pastor

Dan has been serving this congregation since July of 2010. He studied chemical engineering at Iowa State University, and upon graduating worked as an environmental consultant for several years in Chicago and St. Louis. Then he attended Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, where he graduated in May 2010 with a Masters of Divinity. Dan is a graduate of Metamora Township High School and he and his wonderful wife and three amazing daughters currently live in Washington.

Brian Bill, Elder

Brian recently retired after a 33 year career teaching physics and chemistry at Eureka High School. He is passionate about astronomy and regularly has the opportunity to teach astronomy classes at Illinois Central College. Brian has been an active member at Faith Evangelical Free Church since 1985, and has served on the board since 2012. He and his wife, Andrea, live in Eureka.

Eric Loring, Elder

Eric met his wife Angela at Bradley University, where they both received their Bachelors of Music Education. After graduating from Bradley they married in March of 1999 and now have a son and a daughter. Eric has since earned his Masters in Music Education and is the band director at Germantown Hills Middle School. Their family is pleased to have been members of Faith Evangelical Free Church since January of 2014 and consider it a privilege to serve the Lord Jesus through giving of their time to the church community.

Steve Strickler, Elder

Steve is from Rock Island originally, but moved to the area to attend Bradley University and play baseball for the Braves. While there he met his wife, Erin, and he has stuck around ever since. They now live in Washington with their four awesome kids. Steve teaches 8th grade math and coaches baseball at Washington Middle School. He has been a member at Faith since 2010 and an elder since 2014.